Covington man pleads to manslaughter for punch that killed 18-year-old

A 21-year-old man will spend at least 30 years in prison for throwing a punch that resulted in the death of a classmate from Covington High School.

Pierre Perkins

"There's no winner in this; for the families on both sides, there's only loss," said Ann Taylor, the grandmother of the 18-year-old victim, Joshua Farmer.

Pierre Perkins, of Covington, pleaded guilty to manslaughter Thursday morning in a St. Tammany Parish courtroom, just before his second-degree murder trial was set to begin.

A jury had already been chosen. If they'd found him guilty, Perkins would have spent the rest of his life in prison.

Perkins hugged his mother for the first time since he was arrested in July 2009 and told her not to cry.

"I know that they lost their son and I'm sorry for that," said his mother, Yolanda Causey. "I'm losing my child, too, just in a different way."

Perkins punched Farmer outside a home in the Abita Nursery subdivision near Abita Springs on the night of July 21, 2009.

Farmer was born with glaucoma and cataracts and doctors suspected he would be blind by the time he was 5 years old, his grandmother said. But he was a fighter, she said, and lost only his left eye.

"He never saw the blow coming and he never suffered," she said. "God is merciful."

Farmer fell backwards and died of a hematoma on the back of his head.

"My child is not an animal; he's not a killer," Causey said. "He'd never hurt anybody, he'd give you the shirt off his back."

Perkins and 23-year-old Brenton Hills, also from Covington, were charged with second-degree murder. A third young man, Cedric McCormick, 20, of Baton Rouge, was charged as an accessory.

Farmer and his girlfriend had been riding around the subdivision when they stopped to talk to the three teenagers. Deputies suspected it was a drug deal turned bad. But no drugs and only a small amount of cash were found.

After Farmer was punched, the teenagers tried to load him in their truck, attorneys and family members said. But he was unresponsive. They got scared and took off, shouting at his girlfriend to call authorities.

On Wednesday morning, when Perkins' trial was supposed to begin, Assistant District Attorney Julie Knight argued that she be allowed to call witnesses to testify that Perkins was caught selling marijuana to Farmer in a bathroom at Covington High.

Both boys were expelled and, according to Knight, Farmer "ratted out Mr. Perkins."

Farmer was set to testify against Perkins the week after the punch.

Knight said she intended to prove Perkins "intended to beat him up -- whether to stop him from testifying or for revenge."

Louisiana law allows for criminal history to be presented at trial only when its value outweighs the negative light it could cast on the defendant.

Mark Jolissaint, the defense attorney for Perkins, argued that the two crimes were too dissimilar to be linked: one is a crime of violence, the other a drug charge that Perkins later pleaded guilty to.

There was no evidence, Jolissaint said, that would suggest Perkins had any plans to intimidate or otherwise prevent Farmer from testifying.

Judge Reginald T. Badeaux III ruled that the evidence could not be presented.

Knight asked that the trial be delayed so she could ask the 1st Circuit Court of Appeal to review Badeaux's decision.

"Ultimately the state came to a reasonable understanding of the facts of this case," Jolissaint said as he left the courtroom, adding that Perkins should have never been charged with anything more serious than manslaughter.

The case was presented to a grand jury in September 2009, which returned the two murder indictments.

Perkins, who has several prior drug convictions, risked being billed as a multiple offender if he went to trial. Even if a jury found him guilty of a lesser charge, prosecutors might have pushed for life in prison.

Prosecutors agreed to reduce the charge and not bill Perkins as a multiple offender if he agreed to a sentence of between 30 and 40 years. Badeaux will sentence him on Nov. 7.

The mother of Brenton Hills approached Taylor after Thursday's hearing. "I'm so sorry," she said to her.

Hills is scheduled to appear in court this morning. McCormick pleaded guilty to the accessory charge in November and was sentenced to spend two years in prison.

Taylor said she was pleased with plea agreements, which she hopes brings the two-year ordeal to an end. Her grandson, who lived with her in Covington, always made her laugh, she said. He was likable, outgoing and had plans to go to culinary school.

"I just gave it over to God way back," she said. "I just wanted justice. And I want to accept that justice."

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Claire Galofaro can be reached at cgalofaro@timespicayune.com or 985.898.4828.